Proper screening of cytological specimens is an important step in the diagnosis of numerous potentially serious maladies. For instance, in the case of Pap smears which are routinely taken for women, accurate screening of the Pap smear can detect the early stages of cancer, thus reducing the chances of any cancer or related abnormal condition from spreading. Typically such screening is performed by a highly trained technician, commonly referred to as a cytotechnologist.
To perform such a screening, the cytotechnologist generally views the slide containing the Pap smear through a microscope to detect the presence of cells which may exhibit cancerous or other abnormal conditions. While the analysis performed by the cytotechnologist requires intensive training, the process of thoroughly screening a specimen for the presence of cancerous or abnormal cells is often laborious and tedious. To ensure an accurate analysis the entire specimen must be viewed to determine the presence or absence of an abnormal condition. While many specimens may have portions containing no cytological material, the cytotechnologist must nevertheless view the entire specimen to determine this fact.
Automated microscopes which simplify or reduce the manual effort required of the cytotechnologist are often helpful in increasing the efficiency with which a specimen may be screened. Other automation techniques, such as generally described by B. Nordin in a doctoral thesis entitled "The Development of an Automatic Prescreener for the Early Detection of Cervical Cancer: Algorithms and Implementation", Uppsala University, Image Analysis Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden (1989), are also helpful in increasing the cytological screening efficiency.
While such techniques may improve cytological screening efficiency by varying amounts, there exists a need for a system which reduces the time required to accurately analyze a cytological specimen and thereby increase the efficiency by which such a specimen may be analyzed.